burp gun

Toy weapon

Toy weapons are toys that mimic real weapons, but are designed to be fun for children to play with and less dangerous.

Types of toy weapons

Some are essentially similar to the real thing, but less powerful. Weapons for cutting and stabbing have dull blades usually in plastic. Weapons formerly made out of metal and wood are now often made of a lighter material such as plastic. Toy guns either cannot really shoot projectiles or just soft ones such as cork shooting pop guns or Nerf darts with limited velocity.

However, cap pistols use caps with extremely small amounts of explosives for the sound effect. Toy hand grenades do not contain explosives except for a cap. BB guns are often called toy guns, but their shots can cause bodily harm.

Many newer toy weapons are brightly colored and oddly shaped to appeal to children and distinguish them from the real thing (see Dangers below). For example, a toy that shoots Nerf balls might have a rounded shape and a neon yellow color.

For big weapons, the toy version is usually on a smaller scale. It might be much smaller, such as a toy catapult that is tall. Or it might just be sized for children, such as a squirt gun that is half the size of a similar firearm.

A prop weapon (such as a stage gun or a stage sword) has to look real, but like a toy weapon, it should not be dangerous. A woodworking business, the Parris Manufacturing Company was contracted by the United States Government to provide over 2 million accurate copies of the M1903 Springfield rifles for the large World War II US armed forces. After the war they manufactured and sold their replicas to drill teams and to children as toy guns.

Popularity and proliferation

Children have always had small imitations of things from the adult world and toy weapons are no exception. From a hand carved wooden replica to factory produced pop guns and cap guns, toy weapons came in all sizes, prices and materials from wood to metal.

Perhaps inspired by Zulu (film) but not advertised as a film tie in, a mid 1960's child's toy blowgun the size of a ball point pen called a "Zulugun" was produced that shot plastic sticking darts that sadly were often inhaled and swallowed.

Perhaps the ultimate toy weapon was the 1964 Topper ToysJohnny Seven OMA (One Man Army) where an exciting television commercial showed one little boy using each of the seven weapons of the gun to wipe out a neighborhood full of children armed only with ordinary toy guns. Though an amazing seller, the Captain Kangarootelevision program refused to air the advertisement. The proliferation of toy weapons was satirized in the Our Man in Toyland episode of Get Smart.

Dangers and controversy

Toy weapons can cause harm like most objects in the hands of children. Unlike most other toys though, much of the danger of these toys is related to mistaking a toy weapon for a real weapon.

police officers or other authorities treating the carrier of a toy weapon as armed may harm him or her, and take measures such as closing an area, causing disruption to the public; it causes work for the authorities

a child might handle a real weapon confusing it with a toy

Therefore these toy weapons are forbidden in many countries. Realistic looking toys are often called "replicas". In the United States since 1992, toy guns are required to have an orange plug or be entirely brightly colored to signify them as toys.

Toy weapons are sometimes banned from certain public places where responses could cause a disruption.

Attempts at toy disarmament

There is a controversy as to whether or not toy weapons are appropriate for children to play with. Some people believe they can teach children violence.

Jean Shepherd's alleged encounter with a righteous elderly woman wearing a "DISARM THE TOY INDUSTRY" button led to his writing his nostalgic story about his Red Ryder BB GunDuel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid published in Playboy magazine in 1964. The story became part of his 1966 collection In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash that was used as the basis of the film A Christmas Story.

English Children's Clown Barney Baloney AKA Tony Turner is a practitioner of balloon modelling. He was banned from providing children with shaped toy balloons because a national supermarket chain said the latex may be harmful. Barney stated "I also go into schools to entertain children and recently in Rotherham I was told that I mustn't make guns out of balloons because it could encourage violence but I was told it was okay to make swords".